HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors in Texas are charging a 30-year-old man with capital murder in the killing of a sheriff's deputy who was gunned down from behind while filling up his patrol car at a suburban Houston gas station.

Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman identified the man as Shannon J. Miles, who had a previous record including charges of resisting arrest and trespassing.

Hickman says the motive for the killing had not been determined but investigators would look at whether Miles, who is black, was motivated by anger over recent killings elsewhere of black men by police that have spawned the "Black Lives Matter" protest movement.

Deputy Darren Goforth, who was 47, was pumping gas Friday night when the gunman approached him from behind and fired multiple shots, continuing to fire after the deputy had fallen to the ground. Goforth, who was white, was a 10-year veteran of the force.

Earlier on Saturday, Hickman had called the killing a "cold-blooded assassination."

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(earlier version)

HOUSTON (AP) — Gov. Greg Abbott says "heinous and deliberate crimes against law enforcement will not be tolerated in the State of Texas."

Abbott released a statement Saturday afternoon in response to the death of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth at a suburban Houston gas station.

Goforth was in his uniform when a man approached him from behind and fired multiple shots Friday night as the deputy filled up his patrol car. No arrests have been made.

The governor says, "Texas reveres the men and women in law enforcement who put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve their communities."

He added that he knows local law enforcement "will work tirelessly to apprehend the killer and ensure justice for Deputy Goforth is served."

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(earlier version)

HOUSTON (AP) — A sheriff's deputy in uniform has died after he was fatally shot while filling up his patrol car at a suburban Houston gas station.

Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ryan Sullivan says the deputy was pumping gas into his vehicle on Friday night when a man approached him from behind and fired multiple shots. Once the deputy fell to the ground, the suspect fired more shots.

Police said they have a description of the male suspect, who was driving a red or maroon Ford Ranger truck, and have begun an intensive search.

The identity of the sheriff's deputy was not immediately released, but he was a 10-year veteran of the force.

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